Journalist Alex Crook has claimed that the failed vote to ban related-party deals could result in Newcastle United bringing in elite talent from Saudi Arabia.
The Premier League had proposed a vote to ban related-party deals in the January window, but it failed to meet the threshold of 14 teams by just one vote.
Crook has now claimed on talkSPORT that this will allow Newcastle to deal with PIF-owned clubs to attain targets like Ruben Neves and Gabri Veiga who have both previously been linked, as well as Karim Benzema if both parties were keen.
Newcastle to attract ‘world class’ talent
It’s no secret that Newcastle are operating with a multi-club ownership, but as Crook explains, so are a number of other Premier League clubs who also didn’t want to see this vote pushed through.
Al Hilal, Al Nassr, Al Ittihad and Al Ahli are all owned by PIF which was the reason the vote was brought about in the first place. Newcastle’s interest in Al Hilal’s Neves sparked a debate over whether or not this deal would compromise the integrity of the game.
Now, with the vote having failed, there are no limitations on how Newcastle conduct their business with Saudi Arabian clubs, which will be good news for Eddie Howe who wants to bring in as many quality and healthy players as he can to bolster his currently threadbare squad.
Crook suggested that Newcastle could even sign the likes of ‘world class‘ striker Karim Benzema if the Frenchman was keen, although there are no plans to bring him in during the January window.
On talkSPORT Crook said: “Watch this space on that one [Ruben Neves]. Gabri Veiga plays for the same club as Neves, Al Hilal – the PIF owned club – and he’s another player who Newcastle have long-term interest in.
“It would also enable them to sign players like Karim Benzema, if he does desire to come and play in the Premier League.
“So it does open opportunities, not just for Newcastle but there is a lot of clubs, by the way, who are under multi ownership structures, 11 Premier League clubs operate in similar ways to Newcastle.”
Newcastle not currently targeting Saudi Clubs
Even after the vote has failed, a lot of Newcastle’s most recent transfer targets for the January window do not look to be stars from Saudi Arabia, with former Wolves man Neves having ruled out a move back to the Premier League.
Newcastle are instead focusing on the likes of Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips or Santos’ Marcos Leonardo as well as some other top European talent.
That’s not to say that the Magpies won’t explore the Saudi Arabian market – now that they know it’s allowed it would surely be smart business – but it isn’t like the club are solely sourcing their squad from clubs with a shared ownership.
Many Premier League teams will be frustrated at the fact that Newcastle can continue their business as usual, but ultimately the rest of the league who operate under a similar structure put their best interests first when casting their votes
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